NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The No. 7 women's fencing team went 2-1 on the first day of the conference tournament on Saturday, defeating Penn (14-13) and Yale (21-6) while falling to Princeton (18-9). The Crimson had four combatants go 6-3 in their respective fields helping to give the Crimson a third-place finish after the first day of action.

In Harvard's opening win against Penn (14-13), senior Caroline Vloka went a perfect 3-0 with the saber but it wasn't enough as Penn took the grouping 5-4. Sophomore Alexandra Kiefer and junior Kathy Chou went 2-1 in the foil field helping to lift Harvard to a narrow 5-4 margin in the division. Meanwhile in the epee field, juniors Felicia Sun and Nadia Eldeib did their part by attaining a 2-1 record helping Harvard to win the field 5-4.

In its second match of the day, Harvard dominated its Ivy League rival Yale 21-6. The Crimson lost only one match in the saber division, with senior Hayley Levitt and Lee both going 3-0 and Vloka finishing 2-1. Kiefer and Chou led Harvard in the foil field both going 3-0 in the grouping, lifting the Crimson to a 6-3 advantage in the division. Freshman Emma Vaggo and Sun both went 3-0 in the epee field, continuing the Bulldog domination, taking the grouping 7-2.

In a match that helped decide who finished the day in first place, Harvard met Princeton in the final action of the day. The Tigers jumped on the Crimson in the saber and foil divisions holding Harvard to five bout wins out of 18. Vaggo posted the Crimson's best record in the match going 2-1 in the epee field but the Crimson would fall to the Tigers 18-9.

Harvard finished the day 2-1 and will be back in action tomorrow morning when it has two more dual matches against Columbia and Brown to determine the final Ivy League order and crown a 2012 Ivy League champion.